A graphics system may be “overclocked”, i.e., one or more of its components operated at a clock rate above a default clock rate, in order to boost performance. For example, a component of a graphics system, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), may be overclocked to increase the frame rate of a high performance graphics application. Similarly, a graphics memory may be overclocked in order to increase its memory bandwidth, which in some cases may also increase the frame rate of the graphics system.
In the context of graphics systems, some personal computer products permit an overclocking mode to be manually selected. For example, some graphics systems permit developers and enthusiasts to select clock rates and other overclocking parameters. A benchmark software program may then be run to evaluate performance in terms of frames per second (frame rate) and picture quality. An optimum selection of overclocking parameters may then be selected by the user by testing a matrix of overclocking parameters and running the benchmark program for each entry of the matrix to find optimum overclocking parameters. This permits, for example, game enthusiasts a technique to increase the performance of three-dimensional games.
However, a drawback of overclocking a graphics system is that it is more difficult than desired to implement. Improper selection of overclocking parameters can generate graphical aberrations and excessively shorten the lifetime of a graphical system. Additionally, when a consumer tries to manually determine maximum overclocking parameters they commonly increase overclocking parameters in increments until the graphics chip doesn't work properly, what is often known as “hanging” the chip. Hanging the chip necessitates the consumer rebooting the system and selecting reduced overclocking parameters, which increases the difficulty of setting safe optimum overclocking parameters. Moreover, overclocking is difficult for ordinary consumers to implement, since they may lack the skills and patience to perform the time consuming set of procedures required to select optimum safe overclocking parameters.
Therefore, what is desired is an improved apparatus, system, method, and user interface for overclocking an integrated circuit.